Saturday: Saturn is three and a half fists held upright and at arm’s length above due south at 11:00 p.m. Jupiter is a little more than one fist above the east-northeastern horizon at this time.
Sunday: The Draconid meteor shower peaks for the next three
nights with tomorrow night being the best. The meteors appear to come from a
point in the head of Draco, the dragon constellation. This point is nearly
straight overhead at 7:00 p.m. tonight. This point remains near the
trapezoid-shaped head of Draco throughout the night. Unlike most meteor
showers, this one is best observed in the early evening rather than after
midnight. Call this the “early to bed” meteor shower. Draconid meteors are slow
moving which means you will have an easy time differentiating true Draconid
meteors, from Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, from the stray grains of dust that
happen to enter the Earth’s atmosphere every day and night. Unfortunately, the
moon is nearly full, meaning most of the dimmer meteors will be obscured. For
everything you need to know about the Draconid meteor shower, go to https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-draconid-meteor-shower/.
Monday: It is good to plan ahead while you have meteors on
your mind so start thinking about the Orionid meteor shower. This shower, which
consists of the earth colliding with pieces of the remains of Halley's Comet's
tail, peaks on the mornings of October 20 and 21 but produces meteors from
early October until early November. These meteors appear to come from a point
in Orion, the hunter. This point is about two fists above the southeastern
horizon at 1:00 a.m. You can follow this point throughout the night as it will
remain near the prominent reddish star Betelgeuse (pronounced Bet'-el-jews).
The Orionid meteors are fast - up to 40 miles per second. For more information
about the Orionids, go to https://earthsky.org/?p=27937.
Tuesday: “I’m a little teapot, short and stout. The galactic
center, I pour it out.” (I’m a Little Teapot, astronomy version, 2023.) Despite
its great size and importance, the center of our Milky Way galaxy and its giant
black hole remains hidden to the naked eye behind thick clouds of gas and dust.
By plotting the orbits of stars near the middle of the galaxy, astronomers have
determined that the black hole’s mass is equal to about 4.5 million Suns. While
you can’t see the actual galactic center, you can gaze in the direction of the
center by looking just to the right of the teapot asterism in the constellation
Sagittarius. This point is about a half a fist above the south-southwestern
horizon at 8:00 p.m., in line with the moon in the sky.
Wednesday: Look up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane.
It’s a dolphin. A dolphin? The constellation Delphinus the dolphin is nearly
six fists above due south at 8:00 p.m. The constellation’s two brightest stars
are called Sualocin and Rotanev, which is Nicolaus Venator spelled backwards.
Venator worked at the Palermo Observatory in Italy in the mid nineteenth
century. He slipped these names into Giuseppe Piazzi’s star catalog without him
noticing. Sort of like when you would sneak cookies into your parent’s shopping
cart, hoping they would not notice.
Thursday: The Milky Way makes a faint white trail from due
northeast through straight overhead to due southwest at 9:00 p.m. Starting in
the northeast, the Milky Way “passes through” the prominent constellations
Auriga the charioteer, Cassiopeia the queen, and Cygnus the swan with its
brightest star, Deneb, nearly straight overhead. After Cygnus, you’ll see
Aquila the eagle with its brightest star Altair about four and a half fists
above the southwest horizon.
Friday: Venus is a half a fist above the southwest horizon
at 7:00 p.m.
The positional information in this column about stars and
planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up-to-date information
about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
All times are Pacific Time unless noted.
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